Reunion
by gp28
Summary: AU - a tumblr tag made my imperialimpala that wouldn't leave my brain. Emma and Killian were classmates but from very different sides of the social spectrum. High school reunions always bring up regrets and memories of missed opportunities . captain swan. R&R please.
1. Chapter 1

_a/n - from a tag on tumblr by imperialimpala about killian being smart and being the nerd in high school and coming back to the reunion all badass. i couldn't let it go. not sure how long this will be. my first time writing Emma, so I apologize if I totally ruin it. i have fiddled with killian before ::insert smug grin here::, but not like this. please read and review. thx! -gp28_

"Why can't you ever wear something...feminine?"

Emma looked up from smoothing down her blouse nervously to her best friend, Ruby. The other woman was dressed in red, which didn't surprise anyone. A short, fitted dress with flared skirt that managed to make Ruby look both sexy and girly at once.

"This is feminine," Emma replied stubbornly, gesturing to her blue one-shouldered top.

"But...pants," Ruby pouted at the black slacks the tall blonde wore.

"Heels," Emma defended.

Ruby huffed and walked behind her and took her hair in hand. "We could put your hair up."

"This is it," Emma stated calmly, trying not to smirk at her friend's dramatics. "It's supposed to be fun. It won't be fun if you make me look like someone else."

Ruby made a face at her through the mirror and walked to the bathroom to continue doing her makeup.

Emma took stock of the woman looking back at her in the mirror. Twenty-eight years old. A cop, and hopefully soon to be homicide detective when her masters in criminal justice was finished. Who would have thought the girl from the system who had robbed more than her fair share of convenience stores when a minor would be representing Johnny Law on a daily basis?

"I don't know about this."

Ruby poked her head out of the bathroom. "We are going. Don't you want to see all those popular people fat and balding?"

High school reunion.

"It's only been ten years."

"I bet you anything the quarterback or something is balding. What was even his name?" Ruby swiped on mascara with the ease of a pro.

Emma shrugged. She had no idea. It hadn't been a small school, almost 3000 students for the ninth through twelfth grades and except for the occasionally passing of the joint under the bleachers at pep rallies and even football games, Emma had barely known there was a football team.

"Who are you looking forward to seeing?" Emma asked tucking her hair behind her ears and moving to find her clutch purse for the evening.

"Victor."

Stupid question. Of course that's who Ruby wanted to see. Despite Facebook and various other social networking platforms, Ruby's high school crush, Victor Whale, was impossible to find.

Ruby stepped out of the bathroom. "How do I look?"

The amused smile that always touched Emma's lips in regards to Ruby immediately responded. "Perfect."

Ruby moved to grab her things from her bedroom before yelling from down the hall. "And who are you looking forward to seeing?"

XXXXXXXXXXX

_"Excuse you!"_

_Emma didn't make eye contact with the girl she'd just run into down the main hall of the school. The red hair and strident voice didn't cause Emma to flinch. She never flinched._

_"Sorry," she mumbled, trying to look cowed. The girl sneered and went on her way as Emma half-smiled before bringing up the bangly bracelet she'd lifted easily._

_Pawn shops were practically her career._

_She turned and ran into another someone, this time unintentionally._

_"Why don't you-" she trailed off when their eyes met._

_"Sorry." He held his stack of textbooks to his chest, glasses slipping down his nose, but they didn't obstruct the brilliant blue in anyway. He swallowed. "You're Emma, right?"_

_"How the hell do you know my name?"_

_He cleared his throat and blushed slightly. "We have chemistry."_

_She raised one eyebrow, wondering why she wasn't shoving this geek out of her way._

_"I mean, chemistry class together." He forced a smile to his lips. "I sit behind you." He jerked his head to get the shaggy black hair out of his eyes._

_"That's nice." She tried then to slip by him, already taking stock that he didn't have anything she could lift unless she wanted to steal a book._

_"I'm Killian," he called after her._

_She looked over her shoulder to meet his eyes again and quickly looked away. Something about looking at him made her nervous._

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Yoo hoo?" Ruby waved in Emma's face. The blonde visibly jumped at the snap back to reality.

"Sorry, just drifting." She pasted on a smile for her friend's benefit.

"Ready to go?"

XXXXXXXXXXX

Killian checked his pocket watch one more time before dropping it in his waistcoat pocket. He wasn't sure why he'd RSVP'd the evening. He didn't have the fondest memories of high school, but perhaps that's exactly why he'd decided to come. To set the demons to rest.

Surely it wouldn't be as terrifying as it had been.

He walked up the steps to the front door, looking at the people who drifted in, dressed up in their finery. No one looked familiar, but ten years could change a person. He wasn't really one to keep up with those he'd sat at lunch with. They'd been outcasts like him. Bound only by the need for strength in numbers.

He stopped at the table covered in nametags.

"Name?" a woman with red hair and low cut dress asked before looking up at him. It was almost pathetic to see how her demeanor changed upon seeing him.

It wouldn't be the first time.

"Killian Jones."

She doesn't know the name, but finds his tag and offers it to him. He takes it and notices how her fingers linger on his.

"I don't remember you," she said coyly. "But it was a big class."

"I sat two seats behind you in English class. Senior year." And he took a step back so his statement could sink in. Her eyes reflected confusion, but he didn't stick around to see her try again. He turned as he put on his tag, and entered the open room with dance floor and two bars.

He sighed.

Why was he here?

As he headed to the bar to grab something to make the night better when a flash of gold caught his eyes. He paused in his path, turning to see the golden hair, slightly darker than when he'd seen it last, but no less vibrant.

He'd know her anywhere.

XXXXXXXXXXX

_He was putting his books away. Scholastic Bowl practice had ended and he knew he would have a while before the city bus showed up, so he didn't hurry as he mentally ran through the assignment list for the evening in his head._

_He was still pondering his chemistry assignment when he was slammed into his open locker by a arm to his back. He didn't have time to figure out what to do as the hand pulled him out and spun him, slamming him back against the closed lockers._

_Dark eyes. Evil grin. And the smell of cheap beer._

_"Hey nerd, what are you still doing here?" Killian tried not to wrinkle his nose at the stench of the bully's breath, but it was hard. He was pulled close then shoved back against the metal, his head bouncing and a muttered curse falling from his lips. "I asked you a question, dumbass."_

_Killian didn't reply. It did no good._

_Another guy, slighter than the first leaned on the locker next to him. "I think we should make him talk."_

_A hand grabbed his wrist, ready to twist it behind his back._

_"Hey!"_

_All three of them looked over to see her. She wasn't remotely as tall as any of them, but she walked right on up and shoved the biggest one off of him._

_"Swan," the second one began as she raised her knee just enough to threaten the part of him he valued most. "It's just a loser."_

_"You're a loser, and a dick. Fuck off and pick on someone with the same sized brain...try the birds in the park." She stood in front of Killian, arms crossed._

_Both guys seemed to debate whether or not to engage, but when she took a step toward them, they bumbled off, tossing out threats that were unoriginal and barely concerning._

_Emma took a few steps toward where they'd gone, watching before turning to look at him. "You okay?"_

_He rubbed the back of his head, wincing before moving off the locker. "Yeah...I'm...I'm fine." He was at a loss of what to say as she bent down to pick up his books and notebooks, scattered on the floor. "You don't have t-" He immediately hurried to pick up his things._

_"It's fine." She handed him his calculator and watched him for a few seconds before he dared to look at her again. "Your head okay?"_

_He nodded, grimacing at the headache that was sure to come with a vengeance. "Thank you."_

_She stood and he did as well. He held his things to his chest, eyes on her and he just knew that she could tell what he was thinking. He couldn't help it._

_She was an angel._

_"Well, just...try not to be such a target, okay?" She took a few steps back. "See ya." And she started to walk away before pausing and turning back. "Killian, right?"_

_"Yeah."_

_She nodded and without another glance, walked down the halls and out the doors. He leaned back against the lockers and let out a huge sigh._


	2. Chapter 2

_a/n-OH MY GOD! The responses! THE REVIEWS! THE FOLLOWS AND FAVORITES?! I'm like stunned and touched and completely terrified now. Thank you. I wish I could have a better way of expressing my gratitude, but 'thank you' will have to do. I hope this is a fairly satisfying update. This fic is becoming a bit more than I'd planned (not that I ever plan), but I think that's a good thing._

_I forgot to say that I don't own OUAT or Emma, Ruby, Victor or Killian. I would love to own Killian. Or you know, have visitation rights or something. :) -gp28_

XXXXX

"Find him?" Emma asked Ruby softly, which was pointless as both the music and the dialogue of classmates made up a cacophony that was beginning to give Emma a headache. The fact that not a single person who came up to her and Ruby was someone they'd actually spoken to back in the day was tiring.

Emma had been there ten minutes but it felt like an hour. Ruby kept elbowing her to smile, but she didn't smile unless she felt it and she didn't feel it.

"Oh my god," Ruby breathed.

Emma then smiled. "Victor?" She tried to follow her friend's gaze. "I wouldn't have even recognized him."

"Yeah, well, the radar I had in high school for him doesn't get faulty with age." Ruby straightened up and smoothed down her dress. "I can do this."

"Ruby."

Her friend turned to her, eyes large with questions.

"You're beautiful. And no matter what happens, you'll always be beautiful."

Ruby cocked her head to the side. "Did you drink too much? That was almost sappy."

They both grinned.

"Almost? It was totally sappy," Emma laughed and pushed Ruby toward the long lost crush. "Just text me if I need to drive home on my own."

Ruby winked back and with a toss of her hair, she walked right up to Victor, who was already surrounded by a few women. She tapped him on the shoulder and he turned.

Emma was still smiling when his eyes widened at the sight of Ruby and the other women drifted away.

"That's Ruby," she said softly to herself before taking another sip of her beer. She looked around, her cop eyes taking in the people, and completely unable to turn off the hyperawareness that came from the work she did. Her smile fell from her lips as the minutes passed and she heard a slow song come over the speakers. It even felt like a high school dance.

She took another swig of beer, already planning on finding someone who smoked so she could start up again.

"Hullo Swan."

XXXXX

_"Most of you did quite well on this test," the chemistry teacher continued as she handed back the most recent exam. "those of you below a C- can retake the test on Monday for partial credit back." She handed Killian his test. "Well done."_

_Killian didn't make eye contact, but slid the 97% paper into his bag as quickly as he could so no one else could see it._

_"Fuck," the girl with the golden hair who sat in front of him._

_"Excuse me?" the teacher stopped in her passing out of tests and turned to look at the girl._

_"Nothing," Emma replied just as softly._

_"That language is unacceptable."_

_"Yes, ma'am," she said, through gritted teeth as the teacher moved away. "This fuckin grade is unacceptable." The bell rang and Killian watched as she wadded up the test and tossed it at the wastebasket. It missed and there was another muttered curse, but Emma was out of her desk and at the door before anyone else. _

_Killian threw his book in his backpack and walked over to the crumpled ball and opened it._

**_D - I don't think you are making an effort, Emma._**

_He looked over at his teacher, before hurrying out the door as his schoolmates went to their lockers in an effort to get the hell out of dodge on a Friday afternoon. He grabbed his things for the weekend, and waited until the halls were a little less crowded before approaching her._

_"Emma!"_

_She didn't turn from shoving her books into her bag almost as though they were the test she'd just destroyed._

_"Emma?"_

_She looked up, eyes flashing and he stopped, nervous even more at the anger in her eyes._

_"No one calls me Emma. It's just Swan," she said shortly before slammed her locker closed. "If this is you thanking me again, I might just shove you into a locker." She swung the bag onto her shoulder._

_"I wasn't-" He cleared his throat, watching the bag in case she decided to launch it at his head. "I picked up your-" He offered the test._

_"I threw it away," she said, as though he was an idiot._

_"I know...I wanted…" He met her eyes. "I thought I could help you."_

_Her eyebrows shot up. "With what?"_

_"The makeup test."_

_"I'm not stupid. I did make it into honors chem after all," she sneered._

_"I didn't say-"_

_She walked right up to him, her nose almost touching his. "Nor do I need your fuckin pity."_

_"It's not pity," he said quickly, refusing to back away. "Just my way of saying thank you."_

_She didn't move, her eyes not even flickering from his. "That's it?"_

_He nodded slightly._

_She took a step back. "This chapter just didn't...I didn't get it."_

_He half-smiled. "I did. And I can help." He lifted his shoulders before dropping them again as he waited. "We could meet at the library and go over stuff."_

_She pursed her lips in thought, drawing his attention from her eyes to her mouth. He swallowed._

_"Sure. Now?"_

_He let out a huge breath. "Yeah. Now."_

_"You take the bus?"_

_"City bus."_

_She took another moment to regard him. "Huh. Me too." And she turned around and walked toward the doors that led to the parking lot. She paused at the doors and turned back to him. "You coming?"_

XXXXX

_"Oh." she said, thinking she probably sounded stupid, but all of a sudden it made sense. The stuff their teacher had been spouting about for two weeks. She looked up from the chem textbook to him. "I get it."_

_He smiled at her, completely without inhibition and Emma found herself almost smiling back._

_"Good." He leaned back in his chair and continued to grin at her._

_She dropped her eyes from his and worked on another formula. "So, is this what you want to do?"_

_"What?"_

_"Teach? Or something with chemistry?"_

_"Um…"_

_She looked up and he was rubbing the back of his ear in thought. With his brow furrowed and concentrated expression not on her, he reminded her of a puppy._

_A puppy with bam! blue eyes._

_"I don't think so." He tapped his pencil on the table. "I don't like it that much." He gestured to the paper she scribbled on so he could check it. "What about you?"_

_"Stay out of jail."_

_His eyes shot to hers. She mentally cursed herself for being so honest and blunt with him. Something about those damn eyes made her want to talk._

_"Why, why would you go to jail?"_

_"Theft." She pointed at her paper. "Is it right?"_

_"Uh,...um," he stuttered, flustered and she watched as he focused on her handwriting, his black hair falling over his forehead._

_She wanted to smooth it out of the way. Her hand practically itched to do so._

_"Completely correct." He slid it back to her. "Why do you steal?"_

_She shrugged. "Passes the time. I don't get an allowance. I'm good at it." She doodled on the paper for a second. "Pick one."_

_"Em-Swan."_

_She looked up, waiting to see the judgement in his eyes. But there was none._

_"You can do whatever you want."_

_She scoffed. "I'm a foster kid. I can list the statistics." She didn't see him move, but his hand touched her tentatively. She didn't pull away._

_"You can do whatever you want." It was stronger this time. As though his conviction about her had just deepened in a few seconds._

_She licked her lips subconsciously and forced herself to meet his gaze._

_He believed it. That she could do anything. She knew that getting rid of the bullies was one thing, but this...that glow in his eyes that believed in her._

_How could he even think that?_

_"You don't know me." She pulled away and set to work on another question. "You don't know anything about my life."_

_There was a long pause, a silence that was louder than a scream. When he spoke, she nearly jumped at the surprise of it._

_"Maybe we just have more in common that you think."_

XXXXX

Her hair spun out as she turned to him. Her eyes met his in the same 'wary but not scared' way they'd looked in high school.

"Killian."

He grinned fully at her. "Emma Swan." He let his eyes take her in, not at all concerned that it was a blatant up and down of her form. "It's good to see you." He ended his perusal by meeting those turbulent green eyes of hers.

"You too." She gave him a small smile, polite and seemingly disinterested. "So, what do you-"

He shook his head and took her hand. "Don't start with the small talk, darling. Dance with me," he tugged her onto the floor, knowing that if he gave her time to think about it, she'd fight him.

"But-"

He drew her hands to his shoulders and touched her hips reverently. "I never got around to asking you to a dance back then. Hope you don't mind." He waited until he was sure she wouldn't pull away. "Now, ask away."

The smile came out stronger this time, tinged with amusement. "I can't, sorry, um, you seem...less-"

"Self-conscious?"

"Yeah. The lack of stuttering and fidgeting."

He shrugged and moved a little closer. "Been ten years."

"What do you do?" she asked, relaxing. It was just a dance. With the boy who had blue eyes and gentle touch. "Teacher?"

"Computer game developer actually."

"So you're still a nerd."

He laughed and nodded. "So proud of that fact." He let his hands slide more to her back. "And you? Doesn't look like you came from prison." His eyes warmed.

"Um, no. I'm a cop."

His expression went from joyful to shock to disbelief. "Truly?"

She nodded.

He laughed and tapped a finger on her lower back in time to the music. "That's not at all what I was expecting."

"You were expecting something?" Her voice iced over.

He didn't look away. "When you think about someone from time to time over ten years, you wonder."

She swallowed, the cold melting out of her eyes. "Oh.'

The song ended and she started to draw away. His grip tightened just a touch.

"Let me buy you a drink."

She pulled out of his arms. "Don't you have other people to see?"

"I'm good just looking at you."

XXXXX

He did not just say that. He did not just hit on her like that.

He could not just stand there with those blue eyes that hadn't lost a touch of brilliance in ten years, wearing a vest with fucking pocket watch, practically an ad for GQ and say something like that.

How was she supposed to handle that?

"Did you just give me a line?"

The grin widened with even more smug delight. "It's not a line. I'm serious. Let me buy you a drink and let's talk."

She watched him for several seconds, waiting for him to look away or say something else, but he didn't. He just took her gaze and kept smiling.

"One drink."

"One to start." He offered his hand. "Come on, Swan. Let's be eighteen again."

XXXXX

_"How did you do?"_

_She knew it was him. She knew that he'd show up Tuesday afternoon at her locker to ask about the makeup test._

_She wasn't sure how she knew anything about him that confidently, but she did._

_She didn't look at him as she shoved a book back into her locker. "Raised my test grade to a B-."_

_"But that means you got-"_

_She looked at him then. "A 98%."_

_He smiled at her, like a light just turned on inside of him and beamed out. "That's awesome."_

_She begrudgingly smiled back. "Yeah."_

_"Seriously. That's…" He took a breath. "Fucking awesome."_

_She snickered. "Thanks." And closed her locker. They walked toward the doors together, easily in step with the other._

_"We should celebrate. Maybe...coffee?"_

_She froze in place. He stopped a second later. They looked at each other._

_"I...I can't." She moved back to put more space between them. "I gotta get going."_

_He nodded, the smile gone completely. "Course. You know, that's fine." He head dropped and he seemed to find the floor super interesting._

_It was like looking at a kicked puppy._

_"Thank you."_

_He lifted his eyes, but not his eyes, looking at her through those dark, thick lashes. She felt a flutter somewhere in her chest, but dismissed it._

_"You didn't have to help me."_

_"You didn't have to help me," he countered._

_She could feel her cheeks heating up, which she hated, so she retreated even more. "I'll see you tomorrow." And she turned and walked away._

_"See ya, Swan," she heard softly behind her as the door closed._


	3. Chapter 3

_a/n - you're all so lovely! thank you for the kind words, follows and favorites. I was a bit worried I was getting to mushy with this one, then it went back to what I'd thought when I thought of Killian coming back to the reunion all sexy and badass. whew. was getting concerned. probably one more chapter to wrap it up. ENJOY!_

_don't own OUAT. I wouldn't be able to show the restraint on captain swan not making out ever episode, every minute. _

_XXXXX_

_It was the next year, their senior year, when Killian took Physics and Emma decided that she'd stick with Biology 2, that they actually talked to each other again. Emma had felt bad that her simple 'no' to coffee had made the boy quiet behind her. She knew she could do something about it, even just a 'hello,' but she didn't. Something kept her from doing so._

_She wasn't thinking about him the night at the party. Graduation over and done with and Ruby, her only real friend, had manhandled her into going for one 'typical high school' experience. All she was thinking about was her summer plans of accumulating some real work experience (i.e. not stealing) in an effort to get through college because the government didn't overpay for their foster kids to go to higher education._

_So she was outside, staring at the stars with her 'typical high school' red solo cup full of bland keg beer, when she heard his voice._

_"Fuck it."_

_She turned to see him toss an empty cup on the lawn before taking a deep breath and going to pick it up._

_"Refuse to litter?"_

_He jolted at her voice, but picked up the cup and turned to her. "Swan." He looked at the trash in his hands. "I felt like being dramatic, but then my green conscience reared its ugly head." He walked over to her. "Hi."_

_"Hi." She offered him her beer. He shook his head. "Yeah, tastes like carbonated water." She leaned back against the outside of the house, eyes back to the stars. "Where you going in the fall?"_

_"Emerson. You?"_

_"State." She took a deep breath. "It's over."_

_He leaned on the wall next to her, adopting almost the same position. "We survived."_

_She half-smiled. "Yeah."_

_There was a long silence, but not uncomfortable. She kept waiting for him to ask why she never spoke to him again, kept waiting for herself to say something about those moments last year, but she didn't._

_Why bring it up?_

_"Why aren't you inside?"_

_"Mingling with people I still can't stand despite being graduated?" she snorted. He chuckled next to her. Her eyes moved to take in his profile. He still wore the glasses, but he'd definitely gotten a better haircut. "No thanks."_

_"Same." He found her staring at him. "I feel like it should feel different."_

_"Being graduated?"_

_He nodded. "Something should feel different."_

_"You don't feel anything?"_

_God, did she know what she was asking? "Nothing different. Lots of things, exactly the same." He eyed her carefully. She'd gone back to looking at the sky, content in their silence. There was no way that she suspected. He should let it go._

_The wind ruffled her hair and she let out a small sigh._

_"So I'll probably never see you again."_

_She focused her attention back on him, her eyebrows raising. "Probably."_

_"So, whatever I do right now...my last chance." He dropped his gaze from hers, almost like he was physically summoning his courage._

_Emma straightened up, feeling her heart pounding even though she was sure she had no idea what he was going on about._

_"Killian…"_

_He reached out, looking up so their eyes met. His hand touched her cheek and her eyes fluttered shut. How could some guy she barely knew touch so gently? As his hand fully cupped her cheek, she forced her eyes to open, to see how the light from inside the house just hit his blue eyes enough to practically make them glow._

_"SWAN?" The glass door slid open and out stumbled Ruby. "Swan...I need a ride…" Ruby fell to the ground and threw up._

_Emma, without a second thought, hurried to her friend, pulling back her hair as the alcohol made itself disgustingly known._

_"Sorry," Ruby coughed. "So sorry."_

_Emma rubbed her back. "It's alright." She turned to see Killian walking back into the house. He looked back once and gave her a small smile before slipping into the crowd and disappearing. Emma turned back to Ruby. "It's fine._"

XXXXX

He couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was here. The one girl, the one lingering regret about high school. The rest of it could fucking fall off the map, but this girl...woman showed up to the reunion.

"What kind of computer games?"

"Retold fairytales." He handed her a Sam Adams before paying the bartender. "Sort of adventure type fairytales and fables and such." He gestured toward one of the tables. "Shall we?"

"I can barely hear myself think," she said, sipping the beer before inclining her head toward the doors. "Fresh air?"

He nodded, hand out for her to lead the way. As they walked through the crowd, weaving this way and that, his hand lightly touched the small of her back. When they made it outside, she let out a huge breath.

"Was that what school dances were like?"

"No idea. Never went," he replied as he tipped his beer to his mouth, eyes still on her. She knocked back a huge gulp of beer before turning to him.

"So. Fairy tales."

He shrugged. "Kind of in right now. What kind of cop?"

"Soon to be homicide detective. I hope." She crossed her arms and shivered. He slid off his suit coat and laid it on her shoulders, pulling the lapels close so it stayed. "Thanks." It smelled like him.

She hadn't even known that she knew what he smelled like.

"Detective Swan. Nice ring to it." He stuck his free hand in his pants' pocket, and lifted the bottle to his lips again. "I'd like to see you in action." He smirked.

She rolled her eyes, smile lighting her lips. "What is it with men and a woman with a gun?"

"And she carries a gun." He pressed his hand over his heart dramatically. "So many good images."

"Maybe you should put me in your game."

"Maybe you're already there." His tongue touched his teeth in a way that made her stomach tighten. If she'd had more to drink, she'd blame it on the alcohol.

"What?" She licked her lips.

He looked away for a second. "Maybe you're already there."

"In your game."

"At least one, yeah." He shrugged playfully.

"But-" She finished off her beer before running her index finger along the mouth of it. "I-"

"Speechless. Not bad." He took a few steps closer to her. She didn't move away. That was encouraging. "Emma.." His eyes looked up to the sky. "...oh what the fuck, just lay it out there, Jones…" He waited until their gazes were locked. "I came here, hoping to see you."

"Me?"

"Maybe lord my success over some old assholes, but mostly you."

She smiled at the 'assholes' part. "Okay. Why?"

"Honestly?"

"I prefer that."

"You would." He gave her a quick self-deprecating grin. "Just to see."

"See what?"

"If I still...fucking hell, you don't make this easy." He took a deep breath. "I had the biggest crush on you. Well before we ever spoke. And I thought that maybe...well, it didn't happen then. I guess I just wondered if I'd been a little quicker and more proactive, if something would have happened." He rubbed the back of his neck before making a helpless expression.

She stared at him, not quite believing his words. "Ten years."

"It was a big crush."

She huffed for a second. "That's a lot to put on me."

His smile dropped. "I didn't mean for you to-. Dammit. Emma, I'm not expecting anything. Hoping, sure, but you have always done exactly what you want. You have never been anything but yourself. I don't want more than that."

She swallowed. "How on earth can you know all that?"

"At the risk of sounding creepy, I watched you. In class, at lunch, if I ever saw you in town. You fascinated me." He tossed his beer in the nearby trash can. He offered to take hers, but she just threw it into the bin as easily, and from much further. He grinned. "You still do."

"Killian-I don't know what you want me to say." She tugged his coat tighter.

"The truth. I tend to like that too." He might had said it jokingly, but his eyes were serious.

She regarded him, her green eyes sharp with inherent intuition that he knew he couldn't escape. He didn't want to.

Standing outside with her, like ten years ago, b\ut this time there was no one to interrupt them. "Am I completely off base?"

"No."

He half-grinned. "That's something." And he waited.

She moved closer to him, seeing her breath mingle in the cold air with his. She could hear the hitch in his inhale; his eyes, those damn blue eyes, never leaving hers. He didn't make a move, just waited. Her eyes closed as her mouth touched his.

His eyes slid shut and he continued to wait, only moving his lips against hers in the fashion she set. He touched her waist under his coat, needing something to ground him that this was really happening.

Then her lips parted.

It was instinctual; his reaction. Years of wondering, thinking and hoping. He couldn't be blamed for pulling her flush against him, feeling her softness against the tension his body held. His hands ran down to her hips as he took full advantage of her lips and mouth and tongue. Maybe he had something to prove. He wasn't the shy school boy who'd stuttered around her. He'd learned a thing or two in ten years.

She didn't pull away or resist him. She met each kiss with a fierceness that left him in awe and even more want. Her arms were around his neck, hands in his hair, and his suit coat slipped off her shoulders and fell to the sidewalk.

"Emma," he breathed, breaking their kiss, but unable to not taste her, so he kissed her jaw and down her neck. He dragged his teeth near her collarbone and soothed it with his tongue.

She whimpered and pressed her body even more into his. With a quick turn, he used the wall to prop her up and slid his knee between her legs. Her hands fisted in his hair as she pulled his head from the skin at her neck back to her lips. She tightened her grip when his hand slid under her shirt to touch her bare skin.

She shivered.

He drew back, more than aware that the temperature was most assuredly dropping and she wasn't wearing enough for a spring evening, let alone a late fall one. He waited a few seconds to catch his breath, his vision hazy.

"You're cold. We should go inside." He rested his forehead against hers, rubbing his hands up and down her bare arms.

"I don't feel cold," she murmured back, causing him to still in his movements and intentionally focus on the frigid weather because he was about to divest them both of clothing. "Not in the slightest."

He let out a helpless laugh as he lifted his head so he could see her. Her eyes were open, unshadowed and completely heated. Her fingers scratched lightly in his hair and he dropped another kiss to her mouth, but didn't linger.

"Come, Swan. I want another dance."

She smiled at him and his head dropped again, lips meeting and it was several more minutes before he retrieved his suit coat and the two of them walked back into the building.


	4. Chapter 4

_a/n - your little ending is here! sorry about the delay. it's a shame that real life gets in the way of writing fanfic. this isn't very long, but i wanted a little from emma's pov to end it. thank you all for the reviews, the faves and follows. it means alot. i hope to write more captain swan in the near future. ::hugs:: -gp28_

Her hand was in his.

It seemed so juvenile to be struck by something so small, but there it was. They were holding hands. He'd slung his suitcoat back on her shoulders, slipped his hand in hers and walked them back into the building as though this was an everyday thing.

"Another beer?" he asked as they were covered in the canned music; the sights and smells of former classmates.

"I'm good." She couldn't stop staring at him. His profile, those blue eyes and those now reddened lips. "I thought we were dancing."

He looked down at her and grinned. "We were, Swan." He pulled her close and swayed to the repetitive beat. As he did, Emma saw Ruby and Victor leaving, a quick wave from her best friend. Killian noticed. "Problems?"

"What? No. Just the person I drove here, is leaving with someone else."

"You had a date?" His eyebrows rose.

"My best friend, Ruby. Remember her?"

He nodded. "Yes, her timing was impeccable ten years ago." He smoothed her hair, fingers tracing along her eyebrows and then her jaw. "You're impossibly more beautiful."

She let out a shuddered breath. "You can't say things like that."

He leaned down to kiss her softly. "You can't stop me." The mischievous twinkle in his eyes. She felt eighteen, in the arms of a boy she'd been thinking about for days. "I am making up for wasted years, darling. Moments, compliments and kisses I didn't strive for."

And it should have scared her. It did, a bit. But it wasn't like he was lying. She'd know. He'd always been honest with her.

"Besides," he hummed against her forehead, kissing her there as well. "You have yet to tell me how I'm not off base."

She smiled. "Not all of us share everything on first meeting."

"It's not our first meeting, love."

She chuckled. "Maybe some other time."

He cupped her face in his hands, his carefree smile replaced with sincerity. "Some other time?"

She kissed him lightly. "Maybe several other times." And even though it was in public, Emma didn't really care because who would she ever see again from this group, and the only one that mattered (excepting Ruby) is kissing her like she was offering him life-saving oxygen.

And she was kissing him back.

XXXX

**_~Something like five years ago~_**

_"Swan."_

_Emma's fingers froze on the keyboard as Graham, her superior at the police station, came over. "Yes sir?"_

_He looked over at her screen. "Found use for the database?"_

_"I'm sorry, sir. I finally got clearance to use it. I thought…" she swallowed, nervous. "I just wanted to look up someone."_

_Graham looked back at the screen. "Killian Jones. Old boyfriend?"_

_"A friend. Sort of. From high school." She might have blushed._

_"Swan," he lowered his voice to a whisper. "Everyone does it." He winked at her before continuing on._

_She let out a sigh and looked back at the information. Killian Jones._

_And she smiled._


End file.
